To ensure customer retention you need to understand how their minds operate. You need to know what keeps them engaged, what keeps them thinking and what keeps them buying. Every business should have at least one customer retention campaign; otherwise its fate will depend on holiday sales or seasonal promos.
Here are 5 trade secrets on how to keep your customers loyal:
1.Get personal. Do you often hear someone say, “I’m a regular customer” before ordering at a restaurant or a store? The reason why they say it is that they want to be treated as someone special. They realize that they deserve to have certain privileges by virtue of their loyalty. The same concept can be applied to your business website. You need to setup a system where regular prospects are VIPs, and each visit should be a special personal experience for them.
2. Be playful. Gamification is a term they use to describe the use of game mechanics to engage people. It’s usually geared towards transforming ordinary activities into something that’s more enjoyable for customers. A lot of companies offer free branded apps that let customers interact and play games. Other companies add fun features to their landing pages to make customers feel at home every time they log in.
3. Zero-in on customer needs. What do people usually search for that directs them to your site? Are they looking for eBooks? Are they shopping for quotes? Do they want industry tips? By analyzing certain inbound keywords and user activities, you can align your call-to-action buttons and offering based on what customers need. Giving them what they want will make them loyal.
4. “Freemiums” really work. At one point or another, you were once a prospect looking for something online, and there were times when you truly appreciated websites which offer free trials of their products. It made you satisfied by being to use it without having to buy anything, and perhaps you even came to a point when you were ready to make a purchase. People enjoy free stuff, and drives them into your brand more than anything.
5. If in doubt, ask. If you want to be 100% sure that your loyal customers are happy, why not ask them what they want? 2 benefits: It tells you what you need to do, and it also shows them that you care.